Shadow Fire
by TheGrinningDemon
Summary: A mysterious girl with a dark past shows up at Titan's Tower one day, requesting to join. She is allowed in, but something sinister is working behind the scenes. Rated T


**Hello everyone! So I've always been a huge fan of the Teen Titans series, and over the past week I've watched every single episode of it and I got an idea for a fanfiction. This is set after the final episode "Things Change" which, not to rant here, was a horrible ending. I seriously raged after I saw it. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the canon characters**

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**Chapter 1 **

**A New Titan**

The night sky shimmered with stars above Titan's Tower. The stars faded out of sight as they reached jump city, the street lamps giving the sky an odd orange glow. Inside the tower, all was quiet. It was nearly two in the morning. Beast Boy slept with a foot hanging off the bed, his toes skimming the ever-present layer of filth on his bedroom floor. Starfire lay in her bed, sound asleep with Silkie curled up next to her. Robin was asleep in his room, his ever-present mask well… present. Cyborg was in sleep mode on his table in his computerized room. Terra's room was empty, as usual, but it wasn't the only empty room. Raven's was too. In fact, Raven wasn't in the tower at all.

She sat on top of it, eyes closed, meditating. She had been unable to sleep, restlessness plaguing her. She always had trouble sleeping, being half-demon and all, but it was worse tonight.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" She said quietly, levitating off the ground. For once, her emoticlones were silent, as they usually were when she meditated. Even though she could not show her emotions very much, her emoticlones always went crazy when something that demanded an emotional response happened, and she found it rather annoying. The night wore on as she sat there, and she eventually she felt peace creep over her. She headed back to her room and lay down again, this time drifting off to sleep with relative ease.

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Raven got up late the next morning; even Beast Boy was up before her. It was about two when she got up.

"Morning sleepy head." Cyborg called when she walked in. "You're never up this late. Lemme guess, you were partying all night."

"Yes of course, because I live for parties." Raven said sarcastically, walking over to the kitchen.

"Saved you some waffles, Rae. I know you like waffles." Cyborg said from his place on the couch next to Beast Boy, who was eating tofu bacon. Raven smiled slightly under her hood. She _did_ like waffles. She grabbed a few and sat down on the couch.

"Hey, wait a minute, Cyborg called you 'Rae' and you didn't threaten to send him to another dimension! You never let _me_ call you Rae!" Beast Boy whined.

"That's because Cyborg isn't an annoying pest." Raven snapped, eating her waffles. Beast Boy rolled his eyes and went back to playing his racing game with Cyborg.

"Ima beat you this time, Cyborg!" Beast Boy declared. Cyborg snorted.

"In your dreams, Grass Stain." He said. With that, she pushed Beast Boy's racer off the map and crossed the finish line.

"Winner!" The screen announced.

"Booyah!" Cyborg shouted. Beast Boy looked pouty.

"No fair! You pushed my car off the map!"

"Sorry BB, all's fair in love in war." Cyborg grinned. "You wanna play, Rae? Can't be worse than Beast Boy." Raven had finished her waffles.

"Nothing would make me happier, but I have things to attend to." Her tone dripped with sarcasm. Cyborg shrugged.

"Suit yourself." He turned back to the screen. "Ready for another butt whoopin'?" The boys continued to play. Raven put her plate in the sink and was about to head back to her room when something that rarely ever happened, happened. There was a knock at the door.

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The five Titans gathered around the large front door. Robin opened it, and there was a girl standing there. She was tall, thin, and pretty in a dark, wild way. She had spiky black and green hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, though in the front it still stuck up in spikes. Both her ears had two black hoop earrings in them, and she had bright red eyes with dark marks underneath them. It looked like makeup, but it wasn't. She had a white bandage across her nose and when she smiled, her teeth were sharper than most peoples, like Beast Boy's. She even had fangs like him, but hers didn't stick out.

She wore a plain, white short-sleeved t-shirt that was short at the bottom, exposing a small line of tan skin just above her belt, which was black with a silver buckle. Where there would normally be one hole, there were two silver lined holes. She wore tight black skinny jeans and black combat boots that came up to the middle of her calf.

"Hi." She said. Her voice was slightly raspy and she sounded nervous. "I'm Tallis, and I was wondering… could I join you guys?" Robin looked taken aback.

"Uh, I mean, do you have powers?" He asked.

"Oh yes, of course. I can show you if you like, but we best go up there." She pointed to the top of the tower.

"Okay…?" Robin looked a little confused at the girl's sudden request to join, but led her to the top nonetheless. "So… Show me what you can do." Tallis nodded. She stood still for a moment, her eyes closed. Then she morphed into a huge black dragon with purple tipped scales. Her red eyes glowed, and she seemed to smile.

_So, what do you guys think? I can change to whatever size I want, too. I can be huge, or I can be tiny. _She said. Her mouth did not move, and her voice echoed around them. She was speaking with her mind. She turned back into a human. Everyone looked impressed, even Raven.

"That was…" Robin began, but Beast Boy cut him off.

"Awesome! I wish I could turn into a dragon!" He looked jealous. Tallis smiled shyly.

"Thanks… That's not all I can do." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well why don't you show us?" Robin prompted her. He could tell she was young, only 14 in fact. She nodded.

"I can control shadows." Tallis snapped her fingers, and the shadows around them seemed to come to attention. There was more than usual, as the sky was flooded with gray, menacing looking gray clouds. Tallis cast a nervous glance at them but kept going. She gestured with her finger and a stream of shadow detached itself from the others, becoming a semi-solid shape. She made a fist and the shadow changed into a fist. She punched and it punched. It was like a mirror. She snapped her fingers again and it disappeared.

"I can also shadow travel." She walked over to a shadow and stepped into it, disappearing immediately and then popping up on the other side of the tower, and then back again. She now had Raven's attention because of her use of shadows. Then she morphed into a dragon. Tallis looked nervous as she did so. She concentrated hard, and a black aura surrounded her. Tallis was cloaking her self in shadows, until a dragon made from shadows formed around her. Its glowing white eyes were cold and empty. It was like Tallis was wearing a suit, she controlled it from inside. But she released it quickly and reverted back to her original human form.

"Don't expect to see that a lot." She warned. "It takes a lot out of me." Tallis's eyes were slightly groggy looking. "Th-there's one more thing…" From her back pocket she somewhat reluctantly produced a small, white flute.

"It's a Shadow Flute." She put it to her lips and played a short, haunting melody that seemed to hang in the air even after it was finished. The shadows stirred once again, and savage looking beasts stalked from the depths, all with glowing white eyes. A lion came from one, a snake from another. They stood at attention, ready for a command. But Tallis shook her head and gestured for them to go, and they dissolved, much like her shadow fist.

"Oh, and I almost forgot, I can induce fear. I can go inside peoples minds and find their worst fears and make them see it." She smirked at that. "I'd show you, but I don't want to scare anyone too bad." Beast Boy stepped forward.

"Try it on me. Just don't go too deep, okay? And use a minor one would you?" Tallis looked skeptical.

"If you're sure…" She closed her eyes and a black smudge came from her and went into Beast Boy.

_Hmmm… let's see here, a minor fear… ah! Here we go… _Tallis's voice sounded inside of Beast Boy's head, then the world changed around him and he could only see the fear she had chosen. He stiffened, and Tallis released him from her mental hold. The black smudge returned to her. Beast Boy gulped.

"Jeez, I think Raven will like you…" He still looked a bit scared.

"Titans, let's discuss. Excuse us for a moment." Robin said politely, and the five retreated to the opposite side as Tallis. Tallis stood there awkwardly, casting fearful glances up at the sky now and then.

"So. What do we think?" Robin asked.

"I think the one who is also a dragon would be a good friend." Said Starfire, her voice cheerful as usual. "And a valuable member to do the 'butt-kicking' with."

"Dude, she can turn into a dragon! It's awesome. Her shadowy powers are creepy as heck though." Beast Boy shuddered slightly.

"I think the chick's cool. Let her join, Robin. We've got a lot of empty rooms." Cyborg nudged Robin.

"I'm not opposed to it. She really could be valuable. Raven? What about you? You haven't said anything." Robin asked the cloaked girl. She was silent for a moment.

"I think," she said carefully, "you should let her join. I kinda… like her. She's certainly better than Beast Boy here." Beast Boy stuck his tongue out but said nothing.

"Then it's decided." Robin stood and walked back to Tallis. She looked increasingly nervous. "Alright Tallis, you're now an official member of the Teen Titans!" He handed her a T communicator.

"Yes! Thank you guys so much!" Tallis looked thrilled, her red eyes shining. Her mouth hung open in excitement. That's when Raven noticed something.

"Tallis." She said, her voice quiet, but everyone went silent when she spoke. "Stick out your tongue." Tallis immediately clapped a hand over her mouth and shook her head.

"C'mon, Tallis! Just do it. Raven's a weirdo anyways, she probably wants to make sure there's no prophecy on it." Beast Boy scoffed. But Tallis knew why she wanted her to stick her tongue out. She knew why all too well. Looking extremely embarrassed, she slowly stuck her tongue out, and everyone saw why Raven had wanted to see it. It was bright acid green, the same shade as her hair, and shaped like an arrow. They stared at it for a moment.

"Cool." Beast Boy said, and they all laughed, even Raven smiled a bit. Tallis was about to reply when a bolt of lightning crackled through the sky and a massive boom of thunder shook the whole tower. Rain hissed on the warm cement. Tallis gasped, doubling over and hugging herself, shaking violently.

"Tallis? Are you okay?" Robin kneeled next to her, placing a hand on her shivering back. Tallis's eyes were squeezed shut

"Storms… not… good… terrified…" Tallis groaned. Robin got the gist.

"C'mon," he said, "let's get you inside."

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Ten minutes later, Tallis sat on the couch with a blanket around her shoulders and a cup of coffee in her hands. The storm raged on worse than ever, and she flinched every time lightning flashed outside the large window. Starfire sat next to her.

"So new friend Tallis, tell me, where are you from?" She asked, not at all phased by the gale the roared just beyond the window.

"Earth." She flinched again.

"How old are you, friend?"

"14." Tallis muttered.

"14? It may not be the same on Earth, but on Tamaran, my home planet, 14 is quite young." Starfire cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah, well, I haven't had the best childhood. I may only be 14 but I have the maturity of a 17 year old." A particularly large clap of thunder came, and Tallis nearly spilled her coffee on herself. "Listen, Starfire, is there anywhere I can go where there's not a huge window that shows me every detail of the storm?" Starfire opened her mouth to reply, but it was Raven that spoke.

"You can come with me to my room." She said. Beast Boy whipped around when he heard her say that. He was in the kitchen cooking himself a tofu burger.

"_What?! I'm _not allowed to go in your room and we've known each other for a while, and _she_ is?! You just met her!" He exclaimed indignantly, looking pouty. Raven rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but the difference is _she _doesn't make corny jokes all the time!" Raven growled. She turned back to Tallis. "C'mon." Raven led the way down the hall to a sliding door. It opened to reveal a dark room with hanging lamps. The walls were lined with books and a dresser with a pentagon shaped mirror stood against the wall. As they entered, Raven took down her hood, and Tallis realized this was the first time she had seen her without it. She looked better without the hood, in Tallis's opinion.

"So, pretty creepy, huh?" Raven looked at Tallis. The spiky haired girl looked around for a moment, then grinned.

"It's cool looking." Tallis laughed. Raven seemed surprised.

"Well Tallis, I think we'll get along just fine." Another crack of thunder sounded, and Tallis nearly jumped out of her skin. This time, she _did _spill her coffee, right onto her shirt.

"Aww man…" Tallis groaned.

"Here." Raven threw her a towel and Tallis smiled gratefully. Raven sat down on her bed and Tallis followed.

"So Tallis, you're from Earth?" Tallis nodded. "And you're only 14. What are you doing on your own? Where are your parents?" Raven asked, her usually sarcastic voice sounding curious.

"Dead." Tallis turned her face away.

"I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, my dad's a demon." Tallis gave a small half smile.

"Yeah. I should probably explain how that came to be, huh?"

"Not if you don't want to. I won't force you." Raven looked patient. Tallis liked her more and more by the minute.

"No, you should know, now that we're teammates." Tallis shifted into a more comfortable position, the towel still held to her wet front. She took a sip of coffee. "Well, it all started when I was ten. A mysterious old man came to our house one night, in the middle of a raging storm. He told my parents that I had to go with him, that I was important, and that if they did not let me go, a terrible fate would befall them. Of course, my parents were furious. They slammed the door in his face, thinking he was some kidnapper or something. They forgot about the incident until about two years later, when I started… _changing_. My teeth grew sharp, and my hair changed color. It isn't dyed, it changed into this. So did my eyes, they went from green to red. They were scared, and they took me to a doctor.

The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with me, so they learned to live with it. Then, when I was 13, everything went wrong. A horrible storm whipped up, and the clouds opened to reveal a glittering, blood red dragon swooping down. He said that I was to be given to him immediately, lest he destroy everyone in the city. My parents promptly refused so he… he killed them. Just like that, he killed them. And I got mad. So very, very mad. That was the first time I changed into a dragon. He just laughed and told me that he could tell I was going to be like him one day, that he would train me to be like him. He said he'd be back to get me and just left. I was still a dragon and everyone in the city, my friends, my teachers, everyone I knew, were all staring at me. They were scared, but also angry. I ran away and ended up in Jump City. I _ran _Raven. I'm a coward." Tallis looked furious with herself, but also immeasurably sad. Raven was silent for a moment.

"You're not a coward, you're smart. They would have attacked you mercilessly if you had stayed." Raven said matter-of-factly. Tallis shrugged.

"I'm part dragon. I'm a total freak." Raven rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, and I'm half demon, Cyborg's half robot, Starfire's an alien, and Beast Boy's green. The only remotely normal person here is Robin." Her tone firm but not harsh. "No use feeling sorry for yourself." Tallis looked a bit chastised, but nodded.

"Oh, and Raven, there's one more thing you should probably know." Tallis muttered, looking embarrassed.

"Don't tell me there's some wizard after you too. Isn't a dragon enough?" Her tone was dry. Tallis shook her head.

"No nothing like that. Its…" Her voice faltered.

"Get on with it!" Raven said, slightly exasperated.

"I…" Tallis swallowed. "I can't breathe fire…" Raven looked slightly surprised.

"I thought all dragons could."

"They can, I'm just not old enough…" Tallis looked downcast.

"How old do you have to be, do you know?" Raven asked. Tallis nodded.

"14. But since I'm only part dragon, it takes a little longer. A few months, but it's been a few months, and I _still_ can't."

"I'm sure you'll be able to soon." Raven glanced at the clock. It read seven o'clock. Tallis had been here four hours already. Her stomach rumbled.

"I'm hungry." She mumbled.

"I can see that. Let's go see if Robin got pizza. He was supposed to." Sure enough, Robin was just arriving with three fresh, steaming hot pizzas.

"Hey Tallis, I got an extra meat supreme pizza. I hope you like meat, being part dragon and all." He set down the delicious smelling pizza. Tallis stared at him.

"Like meat? _Like_ meat? I don't like meat. _I love it._" She grinned, revealing her sharp teeth again.

"Booyah! I like you Tal. BB over here doesn't eat meat, so now I got me a new meat loving buddy!" He high fived her.

_Tal? _Tallis thought. She had never had a nickname before. She liked it. She sat down next to Cyborg, and everyone grabbed some pizza. Beast Boy, Starfire, Robin, and Raven each stopped at two or three pieces. There was a lot of meat pizza left, and vegetarian, but since Beast Boy was the only one who ate it, Cyborg and Tallis pulled the meat pizza closer to them. Robin had gotten two extra larges, and the whole second one was left and half of the first.

"Think you can eat more than me, lil' lady?" Cyborg asked her.

"Oh, I don't think so, I _know _so." Tallis smirked at Cyborg.

"You're on." Cyborg grinned. They each grabbed a slice of pizza and began to eat. They demolished the half no problem, but were slowing down a quarter of the way through the second one. They had each eaten 11 extremely large slices of pizza. Cyborg managed to eat one more, making it 12. A record.

"Ha." He burped. "Beat _that_ girly." Tallis slammed her fist on the table.

"Don't _ever _call me girly." She growled. She downed her 12th slice, and then stared at her menacing 13th slice.

"Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" Beast Boy, Robin, and Starfire chanted. Raven just looked mildly disgusted. Tallis took a deep breath, and then smiled. Opening her mouth, she devoured the last slice.

"YEAHHHH!" The three erupted into cheers. Cyborg groaned, and Raven face palmed.

"Not bad, girly." Cyborg grinned at her. Tallis opened her mouth to snap at him, but noticed the gleam of humor in his eyes. She smiled to.

"You bet, Tin Man." She shoved him.

"Wanna play some video games with me and BB?" He asked, gesturing to the Gamestation.

"Why? So I can whoop your butts? Sure." The three raced over to the TV and each grabbed a controller. Cyborg started up a fighting game called Super Smack Down Seven. Tallis and Cyborg alternated between winning the matches, while Beast Boy looked stunned that a girl had beaten him so badly. He did win one match, but that was only because Tallis had accidently rocketed herself off the stage and hit Cyborg along the way, causing him to fall off too. They played until 11 o'clock. The only reason they stopped was because the storm had started back up again, much worse this time, and Tallis had been too nervous to concentrate.

"Night Tallis." Beast Boy said, yawning hugely as he made his way to the door to the hall.

"Yeah… Night…" Tallis was dreading it. Because she had just arrived, she didn't have a room yet, and she was going to have to sleep on the couch, which wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't a huge storm going on outside and there wasn't a gargantuan window right in front of her face, making it so she couldn't hide. Raven was still in the room; she had been sitting on the couch reading, when she sensed Tallis's nervousness.

"You alright?" She asked, not looking up from her book. Tallis looked surprised.

"How did you know I was scared?" She asked. Tallis had thought she had been doing a pretty good job of hiding it.

"For one, you told me, and second, I'm an empath. I can sense this sort of stuff. Would you like to come sleep in my room?" She still didn't look up. Tallis looked taken aback. She could already tell Raven wasn't the kind of girl who offered to let you sleep in their room when you were scared. Starfire maybe, but never Raven.

"I-I…"

"It's a simple question. Yes or no. I don't care either way, I was trying to be nice." Raven growled impatiently. But she didn't mean her words. She _did _care if Tallis was scared. She liked the girl, and felt a certain protectiveness towards her. _She's still so young._ Raven thought. _Far too young to be without a mother, or even an older sister._ Ravenstood, scratching the back of her neck. "Well?"

"I-I… I'd love to." Tallis smiled her sharp-toothed smile, but then thunder rattled the windows and it faded immediately. Raven gestured to her and led her to her room. She opened the door and allowed Tallis to enter first. It was even darker than before, now that it was so late, but she was pretty sure it'd still be dark on a bright and shiny morning. Maybe not as dark, but still dark. Tallis sat down on the bed and untied her combat boots, slipping her feet out of them. She had extremely large feet, Raven noticed. Then she undid her belt and rolled it up, placing it inside one of her boots.

"I really need to get some pajamas…" She muttered, realizing she'd have to sleep in the skinny jeans. "And a tooth brush." Her mouth felt nasty.

"There's extra tooth brushes under the sink in the bathroom." Raven told her. She was rummaging around in her closet looking for something. She pulled out a plain gray t-shirt and two pairs of dark blue pants. Her pajamas. "Here," she tossed Tallis the other pair of pants. "So you don't have to sleep in jeans. The bathroom is down the hall, to the left." Tallis smiled gratefully and walked out into the hall. She found the bathroom right where Raven said, and walked in. It was made of white tiles, and a shower and bathtub was against the back wall. She kneeled down and looked under the sink, seeing an assortment of toothbrushes. She chose a bright green one to match her tongue and hair. Tallis stood and grabbed the toothpaste. It was black colored.

"This must be Raven's toothpaste." Tallis muttered. She noticed a skull shaped toothbrush. "And her toothbrush." She hesitated, looking at the black toothpaste; then shrugged and popped it into her mouth. It was minty fresh and made her mouth tingle pleasantly. Then she noticed a bottle of mouthwash sitting on the back corner of the sink. Plastered across the front was a large note that said "RAVEN'S MOUTHWASH". It was also black. Tallis looked around, and then grabbed it, twisting off the top. She sniffed it and grinned. Bubblegum. Raven liked bubblegum flavored mouthwash. Tallis put on the pants; they fit quite well and she liked the color. She walked back to Raven's room, the carpet feeling good on her bare feet. Raven was reading on the bed.

"Sooo, didn't know you were one for bubblegum." Tallis smirked. Raven's cheeks turned pink and her head whipped up from her book.

"Hey! Did you use my mouthwash?!" She looked embarrassed. Tallis shook her head.

"Just sniffed it. My mouth was all tingly from your toothpaste. The black color freaked me out at first, but I like the flavor." Raven snorted.

"I suppose you used my toothbrush, too." She said sarcastically.

"No, actually. I found a nice green one to match my tongue." She wiggled her arrow shaped tongue at her. Raven rolled her eyes. Tallis threw her pants onto her boots and set her small white flute on the bedside table.

"Where did you get that?" Raven asked, looking mildly curious.

"From some man in an old magic shop. He said he knew what I could do and gave it to me, told me to only use it when necessary. So I don't like to use it much." She shrugged. "It feels too… _evil_ to use too much. Like it would retaliate or something." She sat down on the bed, crossing her legs. She yawned. It was now 11:37. Thunder boomed again and she cringed, then sighed.

"I wish I could get over this stupid fear…" She muttered.

"Just go to sleep. You won't be able to hear it if you do." Raven looked at her, not unkindly. She smiled a little. "It's alright." She did her best to comfort the young girl, but Tallis appreciated it anyways.

"Thanks Raven, for letting me stay here." She settled down under the sheet, lying on her side to look up at Raven. "It was really-" she broke off with a yawn, "nice of you." Her red eyes closed, but every time there was a crack of thunder or a bolt of lightning, she flinched. Raven knew she was still awake. Sighing, she closed her book and patted Tallis's hair awkwardly.

"It's alright, go to sleep." She looked uncomfortable. She wasn't the gentle type, but she could tell Tallis needed it, so she tried her best. Nonetheless, Tallis drifted off to sleep as Raven reassured her. A smile crept onto Raven's face. There was something about Tallis she liked, and once again she felt protective over her. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you." Raven whispered to the sleeping girl. Then she too lay down and drifted off to sleep.

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**Author's Notes: Holy piss that was a long chapter. Well here we are, my first Teen Titans fanfiction! Raven is kinda like a foster mother to Tallis, which we'll be seeing more of later. Robin and Starfire weren't really in this chapter, but they'll be in it a lot more next chapter. And I may or may not do any BBXRae and RobXStar and CyborgX… Someone lol *****coughcougheventhoughoneofthegenresisromancecoughha ck*****. You'll just have to read to find out ;D Please R&R and favorite both the story and the author!**


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